Monday, September 3, 2007

"Dateline," the NBC newsmagazine which has scored big ratings for its"To Catch a Predator" investigations, announced today that it wouldintroduce a new investigative series this fall, entitled "To Catch aSenator."

At a press conference in New York, NBC News president Steve Capus saidthat "To Catch a Senator" would focus the "Dateline" investigationteam's energies on "the number one menace in America today: pervyRepublican senators."

While he indicated that plans for the program are still beingdeveloped, Mr. Capus said that "To Catch a Senator" would use anairport bathroom as the nerve center for its sting operation.

Specifically, he said that the program would deploy "Predator" hostChris Hansen as a decoy to lure depraved senators into lewd contact.

"Chris will be waiting in one of the bathroom stalls, and when thesenator taps on the wall, Chris will kind of pop out of the stall andstart grilling him," Mr. Capus said. "We'll nail that bastard fasterthan he can say 'I'm not gay.'"

But even as NBC trumpeted its latest "Dateline" spin-off, industryinsiders wondered whether there would be an adequate supply ofsex-crazed senators to keep the program going for more than a fewepisodes.

For his part, Mr. Capus brushed off such concerns, telling reporters,"As long as there are Republican senators out there who oppose gaymarriage, there will always be plenty of pervs."

Elsewhere, President Bush praised Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraffor agreeing to stand for election, saying, "If free and fairelections work in Pakistan, we may eventually try them here."